Developers are increasingly seeking new ways of using the various services available on networks such as the Internet. Service providers and other businesses (e.g., vertical businesses) publish software development kits and application programming interfaces for the services they provide so application developers can develop applications that utilize their services.
Currently, a developer can download a software development kit for using a service, such as a network service, from a specific service provider. Using the software development kit, the developer can develop a software application that uses the service from the service provider. Typically, the developer develops the software application locally and then transfers the software application to a sandbox (e.g., hosting or staging environment provided by the service provider) where the application can be tested. However, using such sandbox environments provided by the service provider can be difficult and time consuming for the developer. For example, the developer may have to register or pay to access the sandbox. Furthermore, the sandbox may not provide an interface that is as responsive or full-featured as the interface provided locally by the software development kit on the developer's machine. In addition, the sandbox may not provide sufficient or complete support for various testing needs, such as negative test scenarios.
In addition, software developers often desire to develop software applications that utilize multiple services provided by multiple different service providers or businesses. Currently, such a developer would have to use multiple different software development kits, one for each of the specific services the developer wants to use. Alternatively, such a developer would have to write code to separately access each of the services the developer wants to use.
Therefore, there exists ample opportunity for improvement in technologies related to providing a development and deployment environment within which a developer can easily and efficiently integrate information from different services provided by different service providers. This should ease the effort in developing blended applications that will create more value to end customers.